Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has given evidence at journalist Antoinette Lattouf's unlawful termination hearing. Ms Lattouf was taken off-air for the last two days of a fill-in radio contract, in December 2023. She alleges that decision was due to her political opinions and or race, after she shared a post from the human rights watch group about Gaza on her personal Instagram.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00Antoinette Latouf's lawyers have been arguing that senior executives at the ABC, including
00:06former chair of the ABC, Ida Buttrose, were influenced by pro-Israel lobbyists in their
00:14decision to dismiss Ms Latouf.
00:17We know that in documents that were tabled in court last week, Ms Buttrose was seen emailing
00:22managing director David Anderson, saying she was over-receiving complaints about Ms Latouf.
00:27She said, quote, I have a whole clutch more complaints.
00:29Can't she come down with flu, COVID, or a stomach upset?
00:33We owe her nothing.
00:34She was asked in court about those emails today.
00:36She said that getting COVID would have given Ms Latouf an easy way out.
00:41She also described her as a controversial broadcaster and an activist.
00:45And when pushed on why she came to that conclusion, whether it had to do with complaints or her
00:49own research about Ms Latouf, she said she formed that view as a general observer of
00:53life.
00:54There was another email that was tabled in court today, a new document, another email
00:59from Ms Buttrose to David Anderson on the day that Ms Latouf was dismissed.
01:05She'd forwarded a message from a member of the public thanking her and the ABC board
01:09for dismissing Ms Latouf.
01:11She said to Mr Anderson, it's nice to get congratulatory emails.
01:15Now the court heard that Ms Buttrose had sent unprompted emails to complainants on the day
01:21that she was dismissed, informing them of that decision.
01:24And she said to those questions that she didn't want Ms Latouf to be removed and had nothing
01:30to do with her dismissal.
01:32And there were changes to the ABC's legal submission.
01:35What can you tell us about that?
01:37Yeah, that's right.
01:39So Ms Latouf, as you said, alleges that she was dismissed because of political opinion
01:44and or her race, which the ABC has denied.
01:47In court documents, there was a submission from the ABC that said whether there is a
01:51Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern race is complex and multifaceted question as a fact and that
01:57Ms Latouf had not provided evidence to establish that fact.
02:01Now we heard from ABC's lawyer, Ian Neal SC, a little earlier in the proceedings today.
02:06He requested permission to file an amended submission today.
02:10The change being that the ABC is no longer, quote, testing or disputing that there is
02:15a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern national extraction and that she has one or more of
02:22those racial extractions.
02:23Now in making that submission, the ABC still denies that her race and political opinion
02:28had nothing to do with that decision to dismiss her.